Since my 19th birthday happened to fall on the Sunday before midterms week, my friends and I celebrated the Friday and Saturday before — two days that ended up being awesome!

It sounds kind of ridiculous now, but I was genuinely afraid that having my birthday just a month after school started and being at a school 1,500 miles away from my friends and family meant that it was going to be lame. I figured that I wouldn't possibly know anybody well enough by then to have a really good time, but, as usual, I was wrong (And I'm happy I was!).

Friday night, my dorm dressed up and went to a section party on West Campus. It was Vegas themed, so there were different rooms that represented various Vegas casinos like Hotel Bellagio, The Venetian, and MGM

Grand. There was even an area set up like a chapel, with pictures of odd-looking couples lining the walls and Christmas lights decorating the ceiling. For a frat party, I was pretty impressed — the guys went all out on the decorations! We talked and danced into the early hours of the morning.

Saturday, on the contrary, was a bit classier. We took a bus to the nice mall about half an hour away (my 1st time off the campus!), shopped, and ate a late 10:00 dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where I ordered a delicious tiramisu cheesecake. It was great to have a night out with my good friends, and when the clock struck midnight, I got sung the traditional "Happy Birthday", of course!

What's the coolest theme party you've been to so far this semester? Tell me about it in the comments!